Single Payer Healthcare Please

Updated on July 14, 2015

Update (10/31/2013): Listen to Reason!

The following two links both let you listen in on an intelligent conversation between host David Feldman and Dr. Paul Song and Dr. Nancy Niparko from Physicians for a National Health Program. They explain why America needs a single payer healthcare system right now.

The first link is the most important five (5) minutes of the show. The second is the entire show.

UPDATE (10/3/2013)

Update (8/13/2013): Great News!

The Senator who leads the majority party in the United States Senate just made some amazing comments about single payer healthcare. He has basically predicted that eventually we will have it in this country. He calls Obamacare a necessary step toward single payer.

Please read the following story of Harry Reid's recent ground-breaking comments:

Single Payer Government Run Healthcare Q&A

Some interesting questions arose when recently I asked my Facebook friends if they were as ready for a single payer system as I am. I decided to answer them here, on Hubpages, so my friends here could chime in, too.

No, (loc.gov/about/history.html) -> The Library of Congress: The best library in the world, and their online offerings are amazing.

No, (copyright.gov/about) -> Think about how this would kill our economy, if it wasn't managed as well as it is...

No, (usps.gov) -> The US Postal Service: Where would you be without a zip code?

No, (archives.gov/ about/ history) -> To be able to stand in the same room with the U.S. Constitution, and have school children smack you in the stomach with their backpacks, and step on your toes, is a sacred honor for all Americans. Thank You, National Archives.

No, (data.gov/ about) -> brand new step toward freedom of information to all, through the Internet

Now, if the question is whether modern campaign-cycle-frenzied U.S. politicians screw up more often than not, I might tend to agree there.

The one sector of the economy with the most to lose in the switch to a single-payer, government-run healthcare system is the current private health insurance industry. Expect the most vehement lobbying/mythologizing from those mega-corporations and the media outlets they support and the candidates and elected officials they support. But that's just common sense, right?

Newsflash: Campaign-Addicted Politicians May Not Make Good Decisions!

What would Jesus do... about your pre-existing conditions? | Source

Good Ideas for a Single Payer system for the United States

Final question:

What's a good place to start browsing information about proposals for a single payer system for the United States?

Hello JimMiles: The people who need this program are people who earn $80,000 or less per year. They are also the people who pay, without corporations, the largest amount of income tax. The people who are against the insurance earn over $250,000. Most if them are the people that have more than $100,000,000. They are the ones who pay to spread untrue informating to get the public to vote against what they critically need. I included your name so this would go directly to you.

JimMiles 4 years ago from Orlando, FL Author

Good point, David. I guess I can't blame those with wealth looking out for their own interests; but so much of the new anti-middle class legislation feels truly cruel. I hope we're better than this, as a nation; hopefully, the history books will be able to say that about this chapter...

davidlaw2 4 years ago

Hello again JamesMiles" I don't blame the rich for being rich. The problems have been developing with TV and the huge amounts of money paid by the super rich on ads to get their candidates elected. The tactics of spinning facts and flat out lying when it will not be checked out and exaggerating facts has become the problem. The news papers, Fourth Estate, historically was to catch on-truths and exaggerations and supply correct facts independently without taking political sides. The new media does not do this anymore. Most everyone is doing commentary that belongs on the editorial pages or editorial programs and not programs disguised as news. When I listened to a recent programs, three flat out lies were stated by commentators. I am working on an article designed to plant the seed to develop non partisan committees to evaluate the information presented by politicians and present the facts to the public through a website. This site will not be an anti government or free-press format. The committee will be made up of paid researchers dedicated to tell the truth. The goal will be to do what the current news media can't do because they are owned by people with political interests. Please excuse any errors in this comment. I just came out of surgery a few hours age. My major in school was journalism. Very little of what is called news resembles what I was taught that news must be.to be news. I would like your feedback on developing this program.

JimMiles 4 years ago from Orlando, FL Author

Hope your recovery is speedy and complete! Thank you again for your work in this area, and I look forward to a website like you describe which can perform a watchdog function largely left undone by popular media. Ever heard of http://www.fair.org?

hello jim,I will gladly make a hub about a subject that i love as is politics, and the reality of the socialist ideology which by the way is very present and has been present in american domestic policies since the beginning of the twentieth century .

davidlaw2 4 years ago

I am amazed at how many people don't know what socialism is. The Preamble to the Constitution would be considered Socialist by a large percentage of the population because it says that the government is to promote the general welfare: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

A survey was taken a number of years ago as to what people thought the first 10 amendments to the Constitution were. Far to many people thought they were part of a communist plot. Programs to assist the population are in no way socialist or communist. People are lead to believe they are by the use of propaganda tactics by our political leaders. It is an attempt to limit the amount of money the wealthy have to contribute.

JimMiles 4 years ago from Orlando, FL Author

Thank you, mio cid and webaknproud, for commenting and I look forward to your upcoming Hubs.

davidlaw2, that's so true. That's the frightening power of the modern PR/message management industry. Whoever controls the narrative in the minds of the majority of people, controls the public's memory of history. The actual facts of history do not matter. What matters is what the majority of people THINK are the facts.

This has to do with disinformation. This is also related to psychological warfare, which used to be called winning "hearts and minds," or propaganda campaigns.

Now that public education has degenerated to a short-term memory exercise in teaching to the test, everything learned is quickly forgotten, cut up into tiny segments that fit into a multiple choice question. There is no longer any such thing as deep contemplation of large issues. Attention shrinks to such a microscopically small span of time, for teachers now, too, increasingly, that technology is moving from the crutch to the "fascinating" center of so-called cutting edge educational technique. It's never stopped being a crutch; we simply cannot see our addiction to it replacing any desire to connect with the stream of big ideas of our historical ancestors or do the hard work of thinking through the origins, progress, and solutions of our society's big problems.

America is one or two generations away from a fatal vulnerability to foreign domination. Most other nations are continuing to teach their children how to think; we have not successfully imposed our dumbing-down regime on almost any other Western nation. What will happen when America's military is fatally corrupted by the softness eroding away the strength of the larger society? The nation's leaders have cried wolf too many times in the name of "national security;" soft-minded Americans won't be able to even hear the final call to arms if and when a hungry, jealous foreign power decides they are ready to be the next superpower, and to do it from the platform of this land of ours.

Wake up, people!

Mighty Mom 4 years ago from Where Left is Right, CA

Winning hearts and minds, indeed. And the American sheeple are willingly dumbing themselves down and hardening their hearts to make that winning over job even easier.

Thank you for this hub.

Jean Bakula 4 years ago from New Jersey

Good job Jim. It is truly scary how people believe the lies that the polititians spread, and do not research or think for themselves. I fail to see how a health care system as Obama has outlined (it needs some clarification) can hurt our country. It seems the moral and sensible thing to be sure every citizen has access to health care. Our young people are getting terrible eductions. My son is a kindergarten teacher, he wanted to start at the foundation, before children start to dislike learning. He says he may as well have been home schooled (he wasn't) because although he always got straight A's, he insists it was because of his own reading and what we taught him as parents. Basic civics and even any helpful tech classes have been eliminated from curriculums. I think since young people take their SATS and HS is pretty much over in Jr. year, Sr. year should be about wood and metal shop, car repair, cooking, childcare, sewing, basic economic and budget planning, and general life experience. Our country does not make anything anymore, and the schools are not preparing them for life or skills they will need. Having a degree from college doesn't make you stand out anymore, and at the huge costs, parents are paying more to send their children to college than they will make in the career of their choices. I think the trades must start to be taught in America again.

JimMiles 4 years ago from Orlando, FL Author

Good perspective on the difference between having babies in the US vs Canada. "How I Lost My Fear Of Universal Health."

Wow! How have I missed your hubs all this time. Even your comments on this hub alone make you worth following. Great research, great information. Thank you very much. Looking forward to reading more. Sharing with followers. :)

JimMiles 4 years ago from Orlando, FL Author

Thanks for helping to get the word out, phdast!

JayeWisdom 4 years ago from Deep South, USA

I'm so glad Theresa shared this terrific hub, for I've not seen your writing before. I will be reading you regularly now as a follower. You've provided a wealth of information that I will bookmark to re-read at leisure.

It is so sad that the people who need universal healthcare the most believe the propaganda against it. That's one of the major problems in the U.S.--a lack of understanding by the poor, mostly uneducated or under-educated, and vulnerable to lies that cause them harm. I'm still reading about Americans who believe the president's program has "death panels" to decide who can have life-saving healthcare. The elderly are particularly vulnerable to this type of propaganda (pardon me) crap.

I actually raised my voice at a friend on the phone a few days ago when she referred to the healthcare act as "Obamacare", a term that;s used in a derogatory manner, causing my blood pressure to rise and making me want to spit! My friend is constantly worrying that the healthcare act will cause her to lose Medicare benefits. (Unfortunately, she doesn't believe Medicare or Social Security are in danger from Republicans, which is much more cause for alarm.) These harmful rumors are believed as truth, and the insurance industry continues to shell out barrels of lobby money to keep that rumor mill running.

Thanks for this hub, and I'll check out your others this weekend.

Your new fan,

Jaye

phdast7 4 years ago from Atlanta, Georgia

Still an excellent a informative hub on the second read. I hope readers will follow some (or all!) of the links. Their is a wealth of information out there. I appreciate your efforts on all of our behalves. Theresa Sharing of course!

JimMiles 4 years ago from Orlando, FL Author

Thanks for all the love, phdast7, JayeWisdom, Jean Bakula, and Mighty Mom! Now, more than ever, the lies about health care are spreading in campaign ads. I just saw a testimonial-style ad by a Republican Super PAC in which a Canadian woman claimed that she had to come to the US to get emergency cancer-related surgery, or else she would have died because of the "broken" Canadian system. It then said that Obamacare is moving us in that direction.

The Supreme Court really damaged political discourse with their Citizen's United ruling, allowing unlimited LIE money to pour deceit into the public airwaves, which too many intellectually lazy citizens will swallow hook, line, and sinker. False advertising banks on the truth that there's a sucker born every day.

Keep showing the truth to those born suckers out there, and get them to wake up to the lies they've been feeding on.

Single-payer healthcare NOW, PLEASE!

Teresa Coppens 4 years ago from Ontario, Canada

The Canadian system does have some fixes that are direly needed but my finding as a Canadian is that when My family and I need care it is there. We are not turned away and we do not rack up excessive debt for basic health care needs and general surgery. Unfortunately, the population of Canada is aging so the incidence of cancer and more serious illnesses are on the rise. It does make wait times longer. Is our health care system broken? No. Does it needmodifications? Definitely so

Unfortunately change takes time, most of us balk at change.

JimMiles 4 years ago from Orlando, FL Author

Words of wisdom, @Teresa Coppens. The hyperbolic rhetoric coming from the political right wing in the US, and from the corporations who have the most power and the most to lose (health insurance, INC) by such a single-payer improvement, is so obviously obstructionist that it's a dead giveaway-- these interest groups have NO interest in the public good, only in their own profits.

Out of one side of their mouths they get elected by screaming "WE BUILT IT, WE CAN BUILT ANYTHING!", but when you suggest building a system improving upon the strengths of Canada/UK/Scandinavian nations, all they can say (as they protectively shield their wallets) is "WE CAN'T BUILD THAT!"

Greed and hypocrisy. It's the only message I can get from Rightwing USPolitics, INC!

ib radmasters 4 years ago from Southern California

you can put all the links you want but that won't change the truth.

Waiting two years to get knee surgery, in Canada.

JimMiles 4 years ago from Orlando, FL Author

Well, I'm sorry about that, but you cannot say that just because your system makes you wait (which, being still alive, it obviously was no emergency), that the system is bad, broken, or hopeless. Which is exactly what the US propagandists say, and worse. They conveniently forget their own supposed genius for improvement, innovation, and invention, as if there just could be no way for the U.S. to build a better system, in which people did not have to wait!

Mighty Mom 4 years ago from Where Left is Right, CA

It's fascinating (like a train wreck) how they are changing the complexion of the lies. Have you noticed? I can tell when the propaganda machine is busy by what I read in the forums. The current big lie is how Obama is taking money from seniors (Medicare) to fund Obamacare. If you think about that for half a second you realize how utterly crazy such a strategy is. Healthcare for ALL.

All we can do is calmly correct the misinformation whenever we see it. Quillographer recently did a sweet rebuttal in one of the forums. Hammer with facts. We don't have and never could have Super PAC funding. But we have Hub Pages! Keep up the good work, JimMiles! MM

suzettenaples 4 years ago from Taos, NM

Thank you for a very interesting and informative article.

AudreyHowitt 4 years ago from California

Very nicely done! Thank you for including so many sources!

Jenna Pope 4 years ago from Southern California

Interesting Hub. Excellent documentation. I am going to read it a couple more times before I express how I feel. Voted up!

Sooner28 4 years ago

Human beings have become able to now provide health care as a basic human right. The U.N. has affirmed this, and most other industrialized nations. The United States is committing a moral travesty by not passing a universal system into law. Whoever is to blame will someday be looked at in history as cruel and unusual to their fellow humans.

JimMiles 4 years ago from Orlando, FL Author

http://www.escapefiremovie.com/ just out October 5, promises to reignite the discussion. We must keep healthcare at the top of the list; it's life or death, people.

Single Payer healthcare is anti-capitalistic. It would be less costly because stock owners, executive bonuses, and continued yearly profits forever wouldn't make America's health cost the highest in the world. Healthcare in America drives the cost of the federal debt almost as much as the defense Dept. Single payer would go a long way at solving the debt crissis, and a 15% cut in defense for one year would solve the crissis.

Josak 3 years ago from variable

Nailed it, single payer is by far the best system and ALL the data from the UN to the CDC reports to the G20 back it up.

Great hub, voted up, interesting etc.

d.william 3 years ago from Somewhere in the south

Interesting hub, and i am surprised that so many agree with the single payer health system idea. They are obviously NOT republicans.

Those who oppose it and the new Obamacare (Affordable Health Care) are irrational and object just for the sake of objecting to whatever this president stands for. I have never seen anything like the current level of obstructionism in this country. The objections are totally irrational, illogical and certainly not based on any kind of factual data.

A single payer health care system would be the best thing that could happen to the American people.